The Role of Central Banks in Sustaining Economic Recovery and in Achieving Financial Stability

Whenever a financial crisis occurs, threatening a possible financial meltdown, central banks have to be at the forefront in combating, neutralizing the crisis and restoring financial stability and economic growth. In this regards, the present sub-prime crisis which originated from the US highlights a few key issues for the Southeast Asian Central banks (SEACEN). This paper reviews the policy responses to the crisis which include exit policy strategies from stimulus monetary packages. To strengthen the soundness of the financial system, going forward, the paper also highlights counter-cyclical and macro-prudential regulations that central banks may want to actively look into. These include cross-border policy cooperation and coordination, particularly in the form of the college of supervisors.- SEACEN; -Central Banks; - Financial Stability; - Prudential Regulation; -Supervision.

Ascorbate-Deficient vtc2 Mutants in Arabidopsis Do Not Exhibit Decreased Growth

This is the final version of the article. Available from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this record.In higher plants the L-galactose pathway represents the major route for ascorbate biosynthesis. The first committed step of this pathway is catalyzed by the enzyme GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase and is encoded by two paralogs in Arabidopsis – VITAMIN C2 (VTC2) and VTC5. The first mutant of this enzyme, vtc2-1, isolated via an EMS mutagenesis screen, has approximately 20–30% of wildtype ascorbate levels and has been reported to have decreased growth under standard laboratory conditions. Here, we show that a T-DNA insertion into the VTC2 causes a similar reduction in ascorbate levels, but does not greatly affect plant growth. Subsequent segregation analysis revealed the growth defects of vtc2-1 mutants segregate independently of the vtc2-1 mutation. These observations suggest that it is the presence of an independent cryptic mutation that affects growth of vtc2-1 mutants, and not the 70–80% decrease in ascorbate levels that has been assumed in past studies.This research is supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council (BL, CSC, JFG) and a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council grant (NS; BB/G021678/1)

Thermoelectric properties of Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films

Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films were synthesized by a sol-gel process and an evaporation-induced self-assembly process. In this work, the effects of Al doping concentration on the electrical conductivity and characterization of mesoporous ZnO thin films were investigated. By changing the Al doping concentration, ZnO grain growth is inhibited, and the mesoporous structure of ZnO is maintained during a relatively high temperature annealing process. The porosity of Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films increased slightly with increasing Al doping concentration. Finally, as electrical conductivity was increased as electrons were freed and pore structure was maintained by inhibiting grain growth, the thermoelectric property was enhanced with increasing Al concentration. © 2013 Min-Hee Hong et al

A multi-centre randomised controlled trial comparing radiofrequency and mechanical occlusion chemically assisted ablation of varicose veins - final results of the Venefit versus Clarivein for varicose veins trial

BACKGROUND: Endovenous thermal ablation has revolutionised varicose vein treatment. New non-thermal techniques such as mechanical occlusion chemically assisted endovenous ablation (MOCA) allow treatment of entire trunks with single anaesthetic injections. Previous non-randomised work has shown reduced pain post-operatively with MOCA. This study presents a multi-centre randomised controlled trial assessing the difference in pain during truncal ablation using MOCA and radiofrequency endovenous ablation (RFA) with six months' follow-up. METHODS: Patients undergoing local anaesthetic endovenous ablation for primary varicose veins were randomised to either MOCA or RFA. Pain scores using Visual Analogue Scale and number scale (0-10) during truncal ablation were recorded. Adjunctive procedures were completed subsequently. Pain after phlebectomy was not assessed. Patients were reviewed at one and six months with clinical scores, quality of life scores and duplex ultrasound assessment of the treated leg. RESULTS: A total of 170 patients were recruited over a 21-month period from 240 screened. Patients in the MOCA group experienced significantly less maximum pain during the procedure by Visual Analogue Scale (MOCA median 15 mm (interquartile range 7-36 mm) versus RFA 34 mm (interquartile range 16-53 mm), p = 0.003) and number scale (MOCA median 3 (interquartile range 1-5) versus RFA 4 mm (interquartile range 3-6.5), p = 0.002). 'Average' pain scores were also significantly less in the MOCA group; 74% underwent simultaneous phlebectomy. Occlusion rates, clinical severity scores, disease specific and generic quality of life scores were similar between groups at one and six months. There were two deep vein thromboses, one in each group. CONCLUSION: Pain secondary to truncal ablation is less painful with MOCA than RFA with similar short-term technical, quality of life and safety outcomes

Effect of surfactant concentration variation on the thermoelectric properties of mesoporous ZnO

The electrical and thermal conductivities and the Seebeck coefficient of mesoporous ZnO thin films were investigated to determine the change of their thermoelectric properties by controlling surfactant concentration in the mesoporous ZnO films, because the thermoelectric properties of mesoporous ZnO films can be influenced by the porosity of the mesoporous structures, which is primarily determined by surfactant concentration in the films. Mesoporous ZnO thin films were successfully synthesized by using sol-gel and evaporation-induced self-assembly processes. Zinc acetate dihydrate and Brij-76 were used as the starting material and pore structure-forming template, respectively. The porosity of mesoporous ZnO thin films increased from 29% to 40% with increasing surfactant molar ratio. Porosity can be easily altered by controlling the molar ratio of surfactant/precursor. The electrical and thermal conductivity and Seebeck coefficients showed a close correlation with the porosity of the films, indicating that the thermoelectric properties of thin films can be changed by altering their porosity. Mesoporous ZnO thin films with the highest porosity had the best thermoelectric properties (the lowest thermal conductivity and the highest Seebeck coefficient) of the films examined. © 2013 Min-Hee Hong et al

FCS-MPC-Based Current Control of a Five-Phase Induction Motor and its Comparison with PI-PWM Control

This paper presents an investigation of the finite-control-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) of a five-phase induction motor drive. Specifically, performance with regard to different selections of inverter switching states is investigated. The motor is operated under rotor flux orientation, and both flux/torque producing (d-q) and nonflux/torque producing (x-y) currents are included into the quadratic cost function. The performance is evaluated on the basis of the primary plane, secondary plane, and phase (average) current ripples, across the full inverter's linear operating region under constant flux-torque operation. A secondary plane current ripple weighting factor is added in the cost function, and its impact on all the studied schemes is evaluated. Guidelines for the best switching state set and weighting factor selections are thus established. All the considerations are accompanied with both simulation and experimental results, which are further compared with the steady-state and transient performance of a proportional-integral pulsewidth modulation (PI-PWM)-based current control scheme. While a better transient performance is obtained with FCS-MPC, steady-state performance is always superior with PI-PWM control. It is argued that this is inevitable in multiphase drives in general, due to the existence of nonflux/torque producing current components. © 1982-2012 IEEE

Flatband voltage control in p-metal gate metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor by insertion of TiO2 layer

Titanium oxide (TiO2) layer was used to control the flatband voltage (V-FB) of p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors. TiO2 was deposited by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) on hafnium oxide (HfO2) gate dielectrics. Comparative studies between TiO2 and Al2O3 as capping layer have shown that improved device properties with lower capacitance equivalent thickness (CET), interface state density (D-it), and flatband voltage (V-FB) shift were achieved by PE-ALD TiO2 capping layer.open111210sciescopu

Crystal Structure of the Rad3/XPD regulatory domain of Ssl1/p44

The Ssl1/p44 subunit is a core component of the yeast/mammalian general transcription factor TFIIH, which is involved in transcription and DNA repair. Ssl1/p44 binds to and stimulates the Rad3/XPD helicase activity of TFIIH. To understand the helicase stimulatory mechanism of Ssl1/p44, we determined the crystal structure of the N-terminal regulatory domain of Ssl1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Ssl1 forms a von Willebrand factor A fold in which a central six-stranded beta-sheet is sandwiched between three alpha helices on both sides. Structural and biochemical analyses of Ssl1/p44 revealed that the beta 4-alpha 5 loop, which is frequently found at the interface between von Willebrand factor A family proteins and cellular counterparts, is critical for the stimulation of Rad3/XPD. Yeast genetics analyses showed that double mutation of Leu-239 and Ser-240 in the beta 4-alpha 5 loop of Ssl1 leads to lethality of a yeast strain, demonstrating the importance of the Rad3-Ssl1 interactions to cell viability. Here, we provide a structural model for the Rad3/XPD-Ssl1/p44 complex and insights into how the binding of Ssl1/p44 contributes to the helicase activity of Rad3/XPD and cell viability.X1165Ysciescopu

Site-specific immobilization of microbes using carbon nanotubes and dielectrophoretic force for microfluidic applications

We developed a microbial immobilization method for successful applications in microfluidic devices. Single-walled nanotubes and Escherichia coli were aligned between two cantilever electrodes by a positive dielectrophoretic force resulting in a film of single-walled nanotubes with attached Escherichia coli. Because this film has a suspended and porous structure, it has a larger reaction area and higher reactant transfer efficiency than film attached to the substrate surface. The cell density of film was easily controlled by varying the cell concentration of the suspension and varying the electric field. The film showed excellent stability of enzyme activity, as demonstrated by measuring continuous reaction and long-term storage times using recombinant Escherichia coli that expressed organophosphorus hydrolase.X1133sciescopu